Binge Watching Series Recommendations

[72gmc]

We're spending some of our family time with Castle Rock on Hulu. It's a good thing we are a happy bunch because there is not much happy at all in this show, but it has us hooked, and we all enjoy watching Sissy Spacek as is proper.

[Scott G.]

Great British Baking Show, get it from PBS.

Weeks long baking competition, sort like NAHBS with sugar and lots of butter.
You will need your British to American translator app running.

[dgaddis]

Great British Baking Show, get it from PBS.

Weeks long baking competition, sort like NAHBS with sugar and lots of butter.
You will need your British to American translator app running.

We freakin' love that show! Annoyingly, here in the US the seasons are all out of order, and there's two missing.

It's on Netflix too. The latest season actually came out on Netflix alongside the BBC version - like one episode every Friday. I think it's the only show on Netflix like that?

EDIT to add, also on Netflix is Paul Hollywood's Big Continental Road Trip. It's good!

[j44ke]

I have been rewatching the BBC versions of two of John le Carré's Karla Trilogy. For some reason, they never did The Honorable Schoolboy, so these are the beginning and end of the trilogy - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley's People. I found them a long while ago by accident on YouTube, and they are still there so I decided to watch them again. I guess no one is enforcing the copyright. The uploader has arranged them as playlists which is convenient because they were originally broadcast in 5 or 6 episodes. George Smiley is played by Sir Alec Guinness. This is not a contemporary production. It is slow and thoughtful and probably more closely related to Le Carré's original concept than more recent productions - that are still good but admittedly jazzed up a bit. No glossy surfaces here. Everything is gritty and drenched in bureaucracy. Oxford-trained accountants killing each other in the dark, one by one, as an English friend used to say. Anyway, you'll need to watch without distraction to get it all. And might need to rewind to hear info through the accents. But very good nonetheless.

Here they are.

[TMB]

I have been rewatching the BBC versions of two of John le Carré's Karla Trilogy. For some reason, they never did The Honorable Schoolboy, so these are the beginning and end of the trilogy - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley's People. I found them a long while ago by accident on YouTube, and they are still there so I decided to watch them again. I guess no one is enforcing the copyright. The uploader has arranged them as playlists which is convenient because they were originally broadcast in 5 or 6 episodes. George Smiley is played by Sir Alec Guinness. This is not a contemporary production. It is slow and thoughtful and probably more closely related to Le Carré's original concept than more recent productions - that are still good but admittedly jazzed up a bit. No glossy surfaces here. Everything is gritty and drenched in bureaucracy. Oxford-trained accountants killing each other in the dark, one by one, as an English friend used to say. Anyway, you'll need to watch without distraction to get it all. And might need to rewind to hear info through the accents. But very good nonetheless.

Here they are.

This shocked me, I was absolutely sure you were wrong on the Schoolboy - after a bunch of searching ... you are correct. I never actually realized that.

I am a huge Le Carré fan, now I have to go back and start reading them again!

[TMB]

I have been binge watching more things than I can count - Netflix, Acorn, BritBox, Amazon .....

My eyes are starting to bleed.

I broke my ankle and have been staring at either the ceiling, or the tv for almost 3 months. I finally, got approval to go cast free last Thursday - the false feeling of freedom is astounding.

That said, the new season of Trapped is very good ( Netflix - Icelandic).

[slwrnu]

if you like the Great British Bake Off, you would also enjoy the British versions of Masterchef or Masterchef - the Professionals. I know these are international franchises, but the Brits do this sort of telly quite well.

[ChristianWong]

if you like the Great British Bake Off, you would also enjoy the British versions of Masterchef or Masterchef - the Professionals. I know these are international franchises, but the Brits do this sort of telly quite well.

My wife and I love GBBO because it's so darn wholesome. It's not some drama-filled American cooking competition show (unless you count the time Diana took Iain's baked Alaska out of the freezer).

We haven't venutred into the British Masterchef series but based on your recommendation, I think we'll have to check them out.

[slwrnu]

please check it out, the presenting is low key, but can be amusing. There is no false drama. It is all about the cooking, just a couple of quips along the way.

[j44ke]

This shocked me, I was absolutely sure you were wrong on the Schoolboy - after a bunch of searching ... you are correct. I never actually realized that.

I am a huge Le Carré fan, now I have to go back and start reading them again!

Yeah, they skipped Schoolboy and went for A Perfect Spy. Almost like they got mixed up about which one was the middle part. And A Perfect Spy, to my mind, is the more difficult book to pull off, what with all the time shifting back and forth in the narrative. It has only been available on DVD, but after your post I tried again and presto - someone has uploaded it to DailyMotion. I will be watching it this evening I think - A Perfect Spy (1987) by Sir John - dailymotion

[TMB]

My wife and I love GBBO because it's so darn wholesome. It's not some drama-filled American cooking competition show (unless you count the time Diana took Iain's baked Alaska out of the freezer).

We haven't venutred into the British Masterchef series but based on your recommendation, I think we'll have to check them out.

The other Masterchef that is well worth watching is the Australian one. Low key and respectful, about the cooking, not the drama.

Excellent..

[rec head]

GBBO is the only reality show I have ever watched. I think I have seen them all. My uncle was into it way before me but I remember telling him how to use a VPN so he could watch it sooner.

[TMB]

GBBO is the only reality show I have ever watched. I think I have seen them all. My uncle was into it way before me but I remember telling him how to use a VPN so he could watch it sooner.

There was an American version of it - Great American Bake Off. It was terrible and I think lasted one season.

There is also a Canadian version of it - Great Canadian Bake Off. It is produced by CBC and in their drive to be 100% politically correct in every possible sense, give no possible opportunity for anyone to complain about anything - they have made it so sterile, so antiseptic that it is absolutely unwatchable.

The British version is the only one to watch.

[choke]

My wife and I have been hitting some of the Scandinavian-Finnish shows hard of late. Trapped - set in Iceland w subtitles- and Bordertown - set in Finland with English dubbing but we opted for the original Finnish w subtitles - are both excellent.

Check out Borderliner as well, from Norway. Nobel is another one that I really liked.

That said, the new season of Trapped is very good ( Netflix - Icelandic).

Trapped is excellent.

[slwrnu]

for those of you who like understated British stuff you might google Whitehouse and Mortimer Gone Fishing. They are both lovely brilliant comedians, but it is not a comedy sketch series as such. It is just a couple of old friends going fishing in beautiful different places around the UK, and talking kind, unscripted and amusing BS.

[DJB]

We powered through season 3 of The Crown in about 4 nights. This season ends in 1977 and I enjoyed the groovy 70s vibe.

[sine]

Finished watching Sopranos on the "river in the rain forest" channel. Didn't subscribe to HBO back in the day.

It was somewhat interesting, some nights it was meh I had enough. Took several weeks to watch all the episodes.

[giordana93]

just watched season finale of the Watchmen. serious comic book meets magical realism and theater of the absurd. totally lost for the first few episodes and even the second half has you wondering what the hell is going on. High production values. Nice integration of music. If you can suspend your need for reality (and the story line for Jeremy Iron's character is beyond bizarre), it's a good one.

[robin3mj]

The guy who whom GBBO bake-off is my wife’s cousin. He stayed with us for a week about ten years ago and baked some top notch bread back then.

I am binging the Mandalorian while on the erg this month. And am two episodes into the Nat Geo series on the attic wolf. Both are amazing.

[j44ke]

We powered through season 3 of The Crown in about 4 nights. This season ends in 1977 and I enjoyed the groovy 70s vibe.

I really wanted more Olivia Coleman. Felt like the story went dashing off too frequently. The mining disaster episode was very good, as was the one with Prince Phillip sorting himself out during the time of the moon landing. Actually it was all very good, except I really think Helena Bonham Carter was miscast. And I wanted more Olivia Coleman.